He tells me about my aunt Kathy, and how she has no kids but over a dozen birds. Apparently, I had to learn the hard way that little birds bite very hard. My uncle Jack is his business partner in their construction company, and he’s been managing everything while we were up in Seattle seeing doctor after doctor.
Steven has many things to say about Margo, my sister, and her deadbeat ex. She got pregnant her senior year of high school, and instead of stepping up to help care for her and the baby, he ghosted her and went off to college out of state. James’s parents supported her and my nephew while she put herself through nursing school. Then she met the father of my niece. They also broke up, but not quite in such an epic fashion. They have joint custody, and he takes both kids every other weekend. As far as he’s concerned, my nephew is his son in all but blood. Despite evidence that it’ll never happen, James’s mother holds out hope that he and Margo will get back together. That woman has hope in spades… or a really strong sense of denial.
“You know, this kind of reminds me of when you were very little,” Steven reminisces while thumbing through some of James’s baby pictures. In this one, he’s practically choke holding a golden retriever named Buttons that died about four years ago.
“How so?” I mumble absently.
“Sadly, I wasn’t there when you were born. In those days, I was a submarine man in the Navy and was out on an eight-month tour in the Pacific. I didn’t meet you until you were four months old.” He chuckles in that way bittersweet memories can steal a laugh. “Your mother made something like this for me filled with photos of you and your sister. That’s how I first got to know you.” His mouth pulls down into a frown. “Can you do me a favor?”
“Depends,” I answer, a twisting weight building in my stomach.
“Go easy on your mother. I know it’s hard how she keeps hoping you’ll go back to how you were, but it’s kind of how she’s built, always with the never-ending faith that things will work out.” He carefully puts his hand on my shoulder, giving me plenty of time to move or shrug my shoulder away. He releases a sigh of relief when I don’t move. “It’ll take her some time before she realizes it has already worked out. You’re alive and whole. That’s enough.”
“Thanks. I needed to hear that,” I murmur with a sniff and a few blinks. “And I’ll try.”
Steven gives my shoulder a hard squeeze. “That’s all we can ever ask of anyone.”
“It’s all I’ve got to give,” I reply honestly, drowning in all of the mixed feelings I have about James and me.
His smile is tender and full of love when he assures me, “Then that’ll have to be enough.”
Chapter 3
Callie
It’s another lunch period spent trapped indoors as the rain pours outside the cafeteria walls. It’s appropriate for February, but I can’t help worrying that my own unease might be leaking into the skies above.
At least there’s no lightning this time.
Connor quietly picks through his lunch, his shaggy, dark brown hair hiding his profile from me, but it doesn’t matter. Even blindfolded, I could conjure his face in my mind with perfect clarity—sharp nose, soft curving lips, and hard jutting chin. Dressed in his normal lumberjack look, the red flannel makes his copper skin glow a warmer hue. In contrast, the fluorescent lights are making my normal golden tan look a little green. Apparently, the great paling of winter only affects me.
His motions are his usual slow, precise mannerisms as he unwraps and picks up his venison sandwich. I know it’s venison because Rand informed me of the two large bucks the pack took down yesterday. Now, I have that vision in my head forever.
Connor takes his first bite. Remembering Rand is uncomfortable eating before his alpha and, by association, me as the alpha’s mate, I quickly munch on a steamed pork bun that Mei’s mom packed in my bento. The fact that this behavior started before I was officially Connor’s mate is not lost on me, and I wonder when Connor made his wolfy claim on me. Did he know he was doing it?
Rand begins eating with gusto, but his amber eyes can’t seem to help flicking back and forth between us, his expression hardly hiding his concern over possible trouble in paradise. Mei, who’s sitting across from me, seems ready for any drama to begin. Normally, she’d be super chatty, but now she seems ready to just watch things unfold. Let’s see how long that lasts.
Connor sits on my left, but there’s enough room that we’re not touching—room that’s obvious he’d rather not have. His longing to be as close to me as possible is palpable, his emotions washing over me like a wave lapping onto a shore. I don’t know what to do. I love him, but he also claimed me as his mate without telling me, so we stay in this in-between state where we’re not apart, but I haven’t decided to keep the mate bond. I have the power to fundamentally alter a physical being into something more or into a nothingness that haunts me, so I doubt severing this bond would be a challenge for my magic. Problem is, I don’t know if I want to. In the ways that matter, I finally feel like he can’t keep anything from me, but I also can’t keep anything from him.
As if summoned to justify my unease, Donovan and Kaleb join us at the table, looking as attractive as ever. Kaleb is dressed in khakis and a tight, navy blue turtleneck that compliments his dark sepia skin. His short, cropped curly hair makes his beautifully sculpted features all the more prominent. Honestly, he looks like he walked out of the J.Crew winter catalog, and it’s just rude to my poor, overworked hormones. Donovan went for the unsurprising all black look today, everything but his leather jacket a little too tight for his overly muscular frame. His olive skin, black hair, and blue-green eyes make him walking sin—sin that I may have kissed and groped a few times. Granted, I’ve kissed all the guys at least once, so that may not be saying a lot.
Memories of each of their touches burn through my brain, and my body reacts accordingly. My flushed skin, sweaty palms, and raised heart rate are all telegraphed directly to Connor like a big sign that says,Callie is turned on by looking at her hot friends.
Normally, Kaleb and Donovan sit across from me, but today Donovan decides to be especially sneaky and sit on my right side … really, really close to me. It’s impressive just how much Donovan trusts that Connor won’t rip him to shreds if Rand’s surprised expression is any indication. I guess it’s different seeing it up close.
Outside, Connor looks no different, but inside, there’s a sad jealousy brewing. It’s not anger, per se, but an envy that breaks my heart. Sighing, I slide a bit to the left, putting me now equidistant between the two. Mei’s grin widens, amused by my complicated love life.
While Kaleb greets Rand and Mei, I reach up and touch Donovan’s hair like it’s my right to do so. “You cut your hair.”
“Yeah, it was getting in my eyes while I was practicing,” he replies, the gravelly nature of his voice making shivers run down my spine. With a pleased smile, he leans farther down for me to feel his hair. It’s smooth and shiny on top with a prickly shave on the sides and back. Whatever pomade he uses adds an earthy scent to his normal musk and leather.
Realizing what the hell I’m doing, I take my hand back. Donovan flashes me an inviting look before sitting up. He then squeezes my thigh, my jeans way too thin to mitigate the heat of his large palm. Oh, it’s going to be one ofthosedays.
Ignoring the bait, I turn and teasingly tug one of Connor’s loose curls. “You ever gonna get a haircut?”
Putting down his sandwich, he slowly meets my gaze, and his amber eyes burn right through me, stoking an already warm fire within me.
Right, I get hot and bothered, and he feels it, then he gets hot and bothered. This won’t backfire miserably on me ever.
